Improvement in air-compressing apparatus



J. B. ROOT. Air-Compressing Apparatus No. 196,253. Patnted Oct. 16,1877.

wbwaaesr I K UNITED STATES nrrnnr QFFIGE.

JOHN B. ROOT, OF PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN AIR-COMPRESSING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,253, dated October16, 1877.; application filed April 17, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. ROOT, of Port Chester, in the county of\Vestchester and the State of New York, have invented an Improvement inApparatus for Compressing Air, for

the purpose of obtaining heat therefrom, also applicable to the purposeof effecting refrigeration; and I do hereby declare-that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention has for its object the utilization of power from windmills,water-wheels, or other cheap power derived from natural sources, in theproduction of sensible heat, and it is based'upon the followingestablished scientific principles First, when a permanently gaseous bodyis compressed a certain portion of its specific heat is renderedsensible, a rise in the temperature of the compressed gaseous body takesplace, and the heat so rendered sensible may be transferred byradiation, conduction, or convection to any other body having a lowertemperature. The work performed in the compression, except such portionas is consumed in ox'ercoming the friction of the apparatus, has itsmechanical equivalent in the heat rendered sensible in the compressedgas, and the heat rendered sensible, except such part of the same asmaybe lost by radiation from the compressing apparatus, may beutilizedfor any purpose to which heat generated by combustion may beapplied.

Second, the greater the compression of the permanent gas the greaterwill be the elevation of temperature in the same, and the larger will bethe quantity of sensible heat possible to extract from it for usefulpurposes.

Third, the gaseous body, after it has been compressed and the heat hasbeen extracted from it till its temperature is lowered to, or evenbelow,that which existed in it previous to compression, has remaining in it anexpansive force, by virtue of which it will perform work, but in soexpanding its temperature falls.

. In this condition it will extract heat by radiation, conduction, orconvection from any body having a higher temperature, acquiring, by heatso extracted, an accession of expansive force.

Fourth, during the expansion of such permanent gas it is capable ofperforming useful work, no matter at how low a temperature thecompressed volume of the gas may be at the commencement of itsexpansion; and though it can never reach its original volume under theoriginal pressure without from some source recovering as much heat ashas been extracted from it, yet, through the limits of its expansion, itacts precisely as do compressed gases at higher temperatures, in theactuation of motors which may be applied to the impelling of machineryor the compression of other volumes of the same gas for obtaining heattherefrom.

It is the last-named app1icationi. 0., the use of the expansion ofcompressed gaseous volumes from which heat has been extracted to aidsuccessively in'the compression of other volumes. of the same aeriformbody from which it is desired to-extract heatthat is the principalfeature of my invention, which, according to accepted theories of thecorrelation of forces, might be appropriately styled an apparatus forconverting motion of masses into heat.

My invention partly consists in the combination, with an air-compressionpump, coolingreceiver, and a working cylinderin which the expansiveforce of the compressed air is utilized after cooling the air in thereceiver, of a "ariable cutofl valve applied between the receiver andthe working cylinder, for the purpose of regulating the compression ofthe air in the receiver and its expansion in the workgree of heatobtained by the compression of the air.

The invention also consists partly in the combination, with suchair-compression pump, cooling-receiver, working cylinder, and itspiston, of a refrigerator connected with the eduction-passage of theworking cylinder.

The invention further consists in the combination, with anair-compression apparatus in which the air is used expansively aftercompression, of a check-valve arranged within or pplied to theexhaust-passage of the working cylinder in which the expansive force ofthe air is utilized after cooling said air in said receiver, and which,at the opening of the ex haust, prevents the entrance through saidexhaust-passage of external air into the cylinder 1ng cylinder, andthereby regulating the dewhen. the air in such workmg cylinder has beenexpanded below atmospheric pressure.

gleactin g or double-actin g, may be used asthe working cylinder and:piston; or the pump- 7 cylinder and. working cylinder may be 1 combinedin one, and the pump-piston and'work.

ing piston .may be combined 'in'one by the use 7 e of a single cylindercontaining a singlepiston, the. air being admitted into the saidcylinder 7 at one :end to be compressed, and being, after :.itscompression on one face of the said piston, expelled from the same endof the cyline der, andthe cocled'compressed air being ad 1 1 mitted tothe said cylinder at the-other end, to i actby its expansion on theother face of a said piston.

As the combination ofthepump-cylinder:

and piston and: theworkin cylinder and pise ton in a single cylinder andpiston affords the: r simplest inodeof illustrating and carrying out: myinvention, :1 I have selected that mode for illustration: and detailedexplanation of .its' construction and operation.

iFigure l: in the drawing is a partialside cle- 'vation and a partialvertical and ilongitur-lt nal section of the apparatus. Fig.2 iszanenlarged detail 'view'of. variable cut-off device :used' in connectionwith the apparatus. r i a @ln Fi .1, A: represents a working: beam,

through which :power is transmitted to the V pis'tonerod B, connectedwiththe piston Oworle ing in the cylinder 1). This working beam isrepresented as receiving power through a connecting-rod, N, from acrank, L, on a shaft, M, which derives rotary motion from a water-.wheel, windmill, or other prime mover; but instead of such workingbeam, connectingrod, crank, and shaft, any other suitable means oftransmitting power from a windmill, water wheel, or other prime mover tothe piston C may be employed.

\Vhen a working beam is used, it is advantageous to use acounterbalancing weight, F, on the end of the working beam remote fromthe end connected with the piston.

The air may be compressed on either side of the piston G, and theexpansive force of the cooled air utilized on the opposite side of saidpiston to that which compresses the air; but in the example of myinvention shown in the drawing the compression is performed in thecylinder D, below the piston, the lower face of which constitutes oracts as a compressionpump piston, the air to be compressed beingadmitted to the cylinder below the piston through the valve G, whichalso prevents the escape of the air during compression, after the mannerof a pump-valve.

The forcible descent of the piston O forces the compressed air out ofthe cylinder D, through the pipes H H. and the valve G into one or morereceivers, I, the valve G preventing the return of the air through saidpipes.

ES'aid receiver may be supplied with: vertical. pipes yr-passages i, forthe circulation of :air. or water to: extract the heat generatedbycompression from; said. receiver or it may r consist wholly or in partof asystem of: pipes or radiators or be otherwise constructed to affordconveniencefin extractinthe heat therefrom for any specific purpose r Ir The cooled .air conveyed back from the receiver 1: to thecylinder. Bthrough the pipe or passage H, to utilize its expansive force: in :saidcylinder on the upper :face of the piston r G, which face constitutes,oris acted "upon as,

a working piston, the induction and. exhaust of the :said' air to andfrom the upper end of said cylinder being controlled by an induction andeduction valve, E, andaeut-ofi': valve, 13, r a as hereinafterdescribed; but a 1 single valve r r maybe used, performing the functionsof an induction and: eduction valve and cutoff valve; andldo not confinemyself to any par I ticular construction or arrangement-of; valve orvalves, or ent-off devicefor actuating: one or morevalves forcontrolling theinduction of I V compressed and cooledair, and theexhaustof.

the: said air from the cylinder in which its ex .pansive force isutilized.

. The valve G": preventsexternal air from ere tering the cylinderthrouglr the pipe when the air above the piston has:expandedibelow ratmospheric pressure,-;and the. valve t is."

opened to allow the exhaust of the same. 1

downward stroke, and to effect the educti on of the air from thecylinder throughout the whole upward stroke, operating like an ordinaryD slide-valve, without lap or lead. It is actuated by a rock-bar,through a connecting-rod, K, from a crank or an eccentric on the mainshaft M. When the piston has risen to admit below it a volume of air tobe compressed, the said valve E opens to admit compressed and cooled airabove the piston, such air assisting to force said piston downward, thusassisting the prime mover.

The cut-off valve E enables the air above the piston to be usedexpausively, and it also regulates the compression of air by the piston,and, consequently, the rise of temperature in the air produced bycompression, and the fall in temperature produced by the subsequentexpansion. If the said cut-off valve should be adjusted not to closetill the downward stroke of the piston is completed, there would be,practically, no compression of air in the cylinder, but simply atransfer of air from the cylinder to the receiver, and from the receiverto the cylinder; but if adjusted to cut off before the termination ofthe downward stroke, the compression of the air below the piston will bethe greater the earlier in the stroke the cut-off is made, and theexpansion of the air above the piston will also be proportionatelygreater; and, as the temperature of the air is the more elevated under agreater than under The oscillating valve 11- representcd is: coni 1structed' and operated'toeffect the induction of air to the cylinderthroughout 1138 whole a low pressure, the cut-off valve furnishes a mostconvenient means for the regulation of the temperature.

The said variable cut-01f valve has attached to its spindle a rock-bar,O;'-Fig. 2, having thereon an inclined plane, P, which is adjust ablelongitudinally by an adiustingscrew, It; and the said valve is actedupon to close it through the said bar 0 and inclined plane P by means ofa tappet, T, on the piston-rod B,

- the closing of the said valve to cut off the induction of cooledcompressed air through the pipe B" being effected sooner or later in thedownward stroke of the piston, according to the adjustment of the saidinclined plane. The tappet T on said piston-rod acts upon the under sideof the rock-bar O to open. said cutoii' valve.

S, Fig. 1, is an exhaustpipe for the expanded air, which, issuing fromthe cylinder in a very cold state, may be, if desired, utilized forrefrigeration of water, cooling rooms, or for any other desirablepurpose.

For various purposes I connect with the exspecial purposes, in whicheconomy is not a paramount consideration, such as the drying ofchemicals by heated and artificially-dried air, even other power may beadvantageously used to operate the apparatus, as by using the same airover and over its moisture may be precipitated in cooling, and the airmay be reheated by compression.

I claim- 1. The combination, with an ai1-.-co1npression pump, acooling-receiver for compressed air, and a working cylinder and piston,in and by which the expansive force of the compressed air is utilized,of a variable cut-off valve applied between the said receiver and saidcylinder, for the purpose of regulating the compression of air in saidreceiver and its expansion in said cylinder, and thereby regulating thedegree of heat obtained by said compression, substantially as described.

2. The combination,'with said air-compression pump, saidcooling-receiver, and said working cylinder and piston, of arefrigerator connected with the eduction-passage of said cylinder,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination, with an air-compression apparatus in which the airis used expansively after compression, of a check-valve arranged withinor "applied to the exhaust-passage of the cylinder in which theexpansive force of the air is utilized, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

JOHN B. ROOT.

W'itnesses HENRY T. BROWN, FRED. HAYNES.

